POV: Fate Of A Photo-Expedition Leader?

© What The Duck-All Rights Reserved
This will probably be my shortest POV ever, but is particularly timely as I'm leading the Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition&trade that starts in about five weeks!

Will this be my fate??? Nah...

(Cartoon strip seen on Bob Krist's Photo Traveler blog.)

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Yuri Kozyrev: Yamal Peninsula

Photo © Yuri Kozyrev/NOOR-All Rights Reserved
Coinciding with the global climate talks in Copenhagen, Yuri Kozyrev (among the 9 photographers of NOOR photo agency) photographed climate stories with the purpose of documenting the consequences of global warning. Produced during the last two months, the project named Consequences is being launched during the United Nations Climate Summit, Monday 7 December through Friday 18 December 2009.

The Yamal Peninsula is one of the world's largest wildernesses where the indigenous Nenets people have migrated across for the past 1000 years. It is here that traditional large-scale nomadic reindeer husbandry is preserved. The Yamal Peninsula also holds Russia's biggest natural gas reserves. The Nenets have a shamanistic and animistic belief system which foments respect for the land and its resources.

MSNBC has featured Yuri Kozyrev's photographs as a photo essay titled Russia's Reindeer Herders.

Also check Consequences by NOOR.

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Ragnar Axelsson: The Hunters of Greenland

Photo © Ragnar Axelsson-All Rights Reserved
With the advent of the cold snap that's gripping New York these days, as well as the Climate Conference in Copenhagen, I thought it opportune to post The New York Times' feature on the black & white work of Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson.

Ragnar has been traveling to Inuit villages in Greenland’s most remote regions, over the past 25 years, documenting hunting traditions that are some 4,000 years old. He had to spend years hanging around the villages just to gain the trust of the villagers before being allowed on the hunts.

In the most remote regions of Greenland, Inuit hunters spend up to two months out on the ice, seeking narwhals, seals and polar bears. The environment is unforgiving, and temperatures can drop to minus 40.

Ragnar's The Hunters of Greenland, and Showcase: Black & Very White

Ragnar Axelsson is a staff photographer with Morgunbladid, Iceland's biggest newspaper since 1976, and has photographed in Faroe Islands, Greenland, Indonesia, Scandinavia, and Siberia, among others.

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Foundry Photojournalism Workshop Istanbul 2010

Eric Beecroft announced the third Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be held in Istanbul, Turkey on June 20-26, 2010.

The initial roster of instructors, who are giving their time to teach photojournalism to emerging photographers are (at the time of writing) as follows:

Lynsey Addario
Kael Alford
Andrea Bruce
Guy Calaf
Michael Robinson-Chavez
Rena Effendi
Tewfic El-Sawy
David Guttenfelder
Ron Haviv
Eros Hoagland
John Moore
Jared Moossy
Stephanie Sinclair
Anastasia Taylor-Lind
Ami Vitale

Visit the new website to register early and secure a spot in the third annual Foundry Photojournalism Workshop!

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LumaLoop: Yet Another Camera Strap

After BlackRapid's success, another strap contender LumaLoop is entering the fray hoping that it can also provide an improved camera strap, one of photography's perennial Holy Grails.

James Duncan Davidson (a photographer) designed and made the LumaLoop, an across-the-shoulder strap with a quick-release lanyard, whose main claims are comfort and flexibility.

Those who have already used the strap report they like how the camera can be used while slung over a shoulder, and can quickly be released by squeezing the buckle. When not in use, the camera dangles at one's waist, and can remain there all day long.

The LumaLoop is $60 and comes in three sizes. Each strap comes with a lanyard.

From what I've seen on its website, LumaLoop uses the same general idea for an across the chest bandolier strap as BlackRapid, with the twist of having a quick release lanyard-to-buckle instead of a carabiner.

Here's a previous post as to how I "readjusted" my BlackRapid straps to avoid any unforeseen accidents.

LumaLoop first seen on The Click.

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Poll: TTP's Photographer of The Year?

Who Should Be The Travel Photographer's Photographer of the Year?
	Zackary Canepari
	Diego Verges
	Dede Pickering
	Joey Lawrence
pollcode.com free polls

The time of year has come when I normally choose a travel photographer who gets the coveted award of The Travel Photographer's Photographer Of The Year. However this year, I've opted for a more democratic system to elect one of the above four (who were shortlisted by me), and feature this simple poll for my readers to choose the numero uno for 2009.

The blog posts highlighting the work of these four extremely talented photographers are as follows:

Zackary Canepari
Diego Verges
Dede Pickering
Joey Lawrence

The poll will be closed on December 20th. Have fun...!!

Note: This poll was picked up by the Outdoor Photographer Editorial Blog.

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Marc Wattrelot: Balochistan

Photo © Marc Wattrelot-All Rights Reserved
Here's a timely feature brought to us by Foto8 showcasing the work of photojournalist Marc Wattrelot titled Divided Desert: Balochistan.

The blurb that accompanies the slideshow informs us that Balochistan extends over 350,000 square kms (approximately the size of Germany) and is the largest province in the Pakistan Federation. About 7 million people live in Balochistan; a mixture of consists Iranians, Pakistanis and Afghanis.

It's the often-heard story: a region rich in natural resources, its people among the poorest, the Punjabi central government rife with corruption and nepotism, give rise to a resistance movement striving for autonomy.

It's timely because the remnants of Al-Qaida may well migrate to the hinterlands of either Pashtunistan and Balochistan. All the ingredients for major trouble exist in this region in the coming months and years to come, so as I said, a timely feature. I don't always agree with Robert D. Kaplan's political slant, but he has penned a thought-provoking article on the Baluchi issue in the May 2009 issue of The Atlantic, which explains the volatility of this region.

Interesting photographs, but irritatingly repetitive audio...!!!

Foto8 describes itself a space to share, comment and debate photography.

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